Apparatus for automatically reversing the direction of rotation of a shaft,with continually varying amounts of angular rotation thereof



NOV. 24, 1970 p WELLER ETAL 3,541,889

APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY REVERSING THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF A SHAFT, WITH CONTINUALLY VARYING AMOUNTS OF ANGULAR ROTATION THEREOF Filed March 3, 1969 t 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TORS HEMP/CH P5752 M1452 JO-SEF MEHL Nev. 24,1970 H. P. WELLER ETAL 3,54 1,-

' APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY REVERSING THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF A SHAFT, WITH CONTINUALLY VARYING AMOUNTS 0F ANGULARLROTATION THEREOF Filed March '5 1969 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOAS HE/A/E/CH PEI-5e WELL-5Q JOSEF MEHL NOV. 24,1970 Q I WELLER ETAL 3,541,889

" APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY REVERSING THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF A SHAFT, WITH CONTINUALLY VARYING AMOUNTS 0F ANGULAR ROTATION THEREOF Filed March 5,1969 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 3

' mmvrons fiE/MQ/CH P5752 H/ELLEE L/OSEF MEHL United States Patent O 3,541,889 APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY REVERSING THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF A SHAFT, WITH CONTINUALLY VARYING AMOUNTS OF ANGULAR ROTATION THEREOF Heinrich Peter Weller, 63 Bellhovenstrasse, 405 Monchen- Gladbach, Germany, and Josef Mehl, Schillerstrasse 18, Wegberg, Germany Filed Mar. 3, 1969, Ser. No. 803,870 Claims priority, application Germany, Mar. 1, 1968, 1,650,786 Int. Cl. F1611 5/52; F16d 67/00 US. Cl. 74-810 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The shaft for driving the mechanism that raises and lowers a bank of circular holes on a thread-winding machine, is driven by a reversing gear mechanism which is operated by a control switch actuated by two eccentric, rotatable cam disks carried by angularly spaced support arms mounted on the shaft. The cam disks are driven by a train of gears which are turned in one direction by a main driving gear, connected to the shaft by a one-way clutch so that it can turn therewith in one direction only. Another gear meshing with the driving gear is free to turn in one direction only on a stationary shaft, and serves to brake said driving gear when the shaft turns in the other direction. With the main drive gear thus held stationary while the shaft turns in said other direction, the train of gears connected to the cam disks is driven by a third gear fixed to the shaft and meshing with a fourth gear turning on a shaft mounted eccentri cally on the driving gear, said fourth gear being one of said train of gears driving the cam disks. As the eccentric cam disks revolve with the shaft, they increase or decrease the angular distance between their switch-contracting edges, thereby continually varying the angular travel of the shaft between reversals in direction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to apparatus for reversing the direction of rotation of a drive shaft each time that the latter has turned through a predetermined angle of rotation. The invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with a mechanism driven by the said drive shaft for producing a raising and lowering movement of a bank of circular holes, of the type used in thread winding machines. More specifically, the invention is concerned with a mechanism of the character described in which the reversing action is independent of the angle of rotation of the shaft and in which the angle of rotation is varied continually between reversals in direction without stopping the machine. This type of action is particularly desirable whenever a raising and lowering movement of the bank of circular holes of a winding machine is to be changed over to the unwinding of the threads from the spindles. In this way, the threads can be wound up in a designated way and the formation of the exact pattern of thread winding can be obtained.

Prior mechanisms of this type are capable of producing only a limited number of types of winding, and therefore do not have suflicient variations and possibilities. The primary object of the invention, therefore, is to ice provide an apparatus which is capable of continuously changing the size of the angle of rotation of the forwardand-reverse rotating shaft, and in so doing also makes possible a corresponding variation in the raising and lowering movement of the bank of circular holes on the wind ing machine.

The above object is achieved by providing a control switch for operating the reversing gear set that drives the shaft, said switch being actuated by a continually rotating, eccentric cam disk which is turned by a drive gear mounted on the shaft. Depending upon the shape of the cam disks, any desired kind of winding can be accomplished without difficulty.

The invention also provides for an additional drive gear train for the advancement of the cam disks, which is controlled by the shaft in question, and likewise set in motion thereby.

Finally, the invention provides that the said additional drive gear train for the advancement of the cam disks by the forward and reverse rotation of the shaft includes a revolving wheel which moves only in one direction with the said shaft, and this revolving wheel is positively prevented from turning in the other direction by a brake. Moreover, the said revolving wheel has an eccentric stub axle extending parallel to the drive shaft, and journaled on this stub axle is a first pair of integral gears, one of which is meshed with a gear fixedly mounted on the shaft. The other of the pair of integral gears is meshed with one of a second pair of integral gears, which revolves freely on the shaft; the other of said second pair of gears being meshed with two adjacent gears, each of which is fixedly mounted on a shaft that also has a curved cam disk secured thereon. These last-named shafts are each rotatably supported by an arm mounted on the forwardand-reverse turning drive shaft. As the drive shaft rotates in each direction, one or the other of the said cam disks engages and actuates the reverse control switch, causing the reverse gears to shift to the reverse direction. The above-mentioned revolving wheel and its accompanying brake are preferably equipped with gear wheels, rather than let run free.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be seen in the acompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic and perspective representation of the apparatus of the invention, showing the driving gear for raising and lowering a bank of circular holes, of the type used in thread winding machines;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the same, showing the driving gear being driven in one direction; and I FIG. 3 is a similar view, showing the driving gear being driven in the other direction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Enclosed within a housing 1 is a reversing gear set 2, which drives a shaft -3 in one direction or the other, as shown by the arrow a in FIG. 1. The driving connection between the reversing gear set 2 and the shaft 3 results from the fact that the gear set 2 drives a worm screw 2a in one direction or the other, and worm screw 2a meshes with a Worm gear 3a, which is fastened to the shaft 3.

The forward and reverse rotational movement of the shaft 3 is converted, in the illustrated example, into a raising and lowering movement for a bank of circular holes 4 on a thread winding machine (not shown). This is accomplished by means of a sprocket wheel 5 mounted on the shaft 3, which is connected by a chain 6 to an overhead sprocket wheel 8 fixedly mounted on a rotatable shaft 7. Also fixedly mounted on shaft 7 is another sprocket wheel 9, which likewise drives a lifting chain 10. Attached to one end of the lifting chain 10 is a pulling strap 11, which passes over a freely turning roller 12 and down to the bank of circular holes 4, to which it is fastened.

As the shaft 3 turns, the bank of circular holes 4 is raised or lowered, depending upon which direction the shaft 3 is rotating. The extent of raising and lowering of the bank of circular holes 4 can be regulated by correspondingly regulating the angular distance through which the shaft 3 rotates, in order to get the desired kind of winding of the threads.

According to the invention, the arrangement for the continual and self-activating gear for driving the shaft 3 is composed entirely of a gear train 14, which actuates the reversing gear switch 2b of the reversing drive gear 2.

The gear train 14 is controlled by the shaft 3 and comprises a rotating body in the form of a gear wheel 15, which is connected to the shaft 3 to be driven thereby in one direction only by means of a one-way clutch 18. The gear wheel 15 meshes with a smaller gear 16 which is rotatably supported on a stationary axle shaft 17, and gear 16 is likewise connected to shaft 17 by a one-way clutch 19, which allows the gear to turn freely in one direction only.

The gearwheel 15 has a stub axle 20 mounted on one side thereof at a distance spaced radially outward from its center of rotation, and the said stub axle projects outwardly from the gear wheel 15 parallel to shaft 3. R0- tatably supported on the stub axle 20 is a pair of integral gears 21 and 22. Gear 21 is meshed with another gear 23, which is fixedly mounted on shaft 3, while gear 22 is meshed with another gear 24, comprising one of two integral gears which are freely rotatable on shaft 3. The other gear 25 of this last-named pair meshes with two angularly spaced gears 26a and 26b. Each of these two gears 26a and 26b is fixedly mounted on a shaft 27a and 27b, respectively, and these are supported, in turn, by arms 28a and 28b, respectively. Also mounted on shafts 27a and 27b are shifting cam disks 29a and 2912, respectively, which engage and trip the reversing switch 212 to reverse the direction of rotation of the shaft 3.

The operation of this driving gear train in the two directions of rotation of the shaft 3 is as follows: When the shaft 3 is turning in the direction of the arrow a in FIG. 2, the one-way clutch 18 locks the gear wheel 15 to the shaft so that they rotate as one. At the same time, the one-way clutch 19 allows the smaller gear 16 to free wheel on its shaft 17. All of the remaining gears and related parts of the driving gear train 14, including the cam disks 29a and 2%, remain stationary on their respective shafts, and merely revolve with the shaft 3.

When the direction of rotation of shaft 3 is as shown by the arrow at" in FIG. 3, the one-way clutch 18 becomes free-wheeling, while the one-Way clutch 19 locks the gear 16 to stationary shaft 17. Thus, the gear wheel 15, and along with its axle shaft 20, stops in space, although shaft 3 rotates by itself. Gear 23, which is fixedly mounted on shaft 3 and rotates therewith, drives gears 21, 22 on their axle shaft 20, and gear 22 in turn drives gear 24. Thus, the pair of integral gears 24, 25 is turned in the same direction as shaft 3, but somewhat faster than the latter owing to the difference in the diameters of gears 23, 21 and gears 22, 24. In, this way, each of the gears 26a and 26b is rotated through a relatively small, predetermined angular distance each time that the shaft 3 oscillates in the direction of the arrow a", and due to the eccentricity of the cam disks 29a, 2%, this has the effect of continually varying the angular distance between the switch-contacting outer edges of the cam disks, with a corresponding continual variation in the angular distance of rotation of shaft 3 between reversals in direction, which is likewise reflected in the vertical distance traveled by the bank of circular holes 4.

By suitably forming the cam disks 29a and 2911, one can obtain the result whereby the cam disks actuate the control switch 2b of the reversing gear set 2 at any desired angular interval, so that the raising and lowering movement of the circular ring bank 4 is accomplished in a suitably controlled manner.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for producing a forWard-and-reverse rotation of a shaft with continually varying angular dis tance of rotation between reversals, comprising a reversing gear set driving said shaft, a control switch for operating said reversing gear set, and means for actuating said control switch each time said shaft oscillates through a predetermined angular distance, said means being characterized by a train of gears driven by said shaft, and a cam disk mounted on said shaft to rotate therewith, said cam disk being driven by said train of gears, and said cam disk being operable to engage and actuate said control switch at one end of the angular distance traveled by said shaft, said cam disk having a configuration such that as it rotates it varies the angular distance traveled by said shaft before said control switch is actuated.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further characterized by means for driving a vertically movable bank of circular holes of the type used in thread-winding machines, said bank of circular holes being connected to said shaft so that it is raised when the shaft oscillates in one direction, and is lowered when the shaft oscillates in the other direction.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further characterized by a second cam disk mounted on said shaft to rotate therewith, said second cam disk being spaced angularly from said first cam disk and being operable to en.- gage and actuate said control switch at the other end of the angular distance traveled by said shaft, said second cam disk being also driven by said train of gears.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said train of gears comprises a first gear (15) connected with said shaft (3) to rotate therewith in one direction only, brake means (16, 19) operable to brake said first gear (15) against rotation in the other direction, a stub axle (20) mounted on said first gear (15) at a distance spaced radially outward from said shaft (3) and parallel thereto, a pair of integral gears (21., 22) journaled on said stub axle (20), a drive gear (23) fixed to said shaft (3) and meshing with one of the gears (21) of said pair, the other gear (22) of said pair meshing with one gear (24) of another pair of integral gears (24, 25) freely rotatable on said shaft (3), the other gear (25) of said other pair meshing with a pair of gears (26a, 26b) mounted on shafts (27a, 27b) carried by arms (28a, 28b) on said shaft (3), and said cam disks (29a, 2911) being mounted on said shafts (27a, 27b) to rotate therewith, said train of gears being so proportioned that said cam disks (29a, 2%) are advanced a predetermined angular distance each time said shaft (3) oscillates in one direction.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said train of gears comprises a first gear (15) connected with said shaft (3) to rotate therewith in one direction only, brake means (16, 19) operable to brake said first gear (15) against rotation in the other direction, a stub axle (20) mounted on said first gear (15) at a distance spaced radially outward from said shaft (3) and parallel thereto, a pair of integral gears (21, 22) journaled on said stub axle (20), a drive gear (23) fixed to said shaft (3) and meshing with one of the gears (21) of said pair, the other gear (22) of said pair meshing with one gear (24) of another pair of integral gears (24, 25) freely rotatable on said shaft (3), the other gear (25) of said other pair meshing with a gear (26a) mounted on a shaft (27a) carried by an arm (28a) on said shaft (3), and said cam disk (29a) being mounted on said shaft (27a) to rotate therewith.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said brake means comprises a gear (16) meshing with said first gear (15) and supported on a one-way clutch (19) for rotation only in the direction when driven by said first gear (15) turning in said one direction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,241,385 3/1966 Tomaro 74810 3,319,494 5/1967 Ulbing 74-812 LEONARD H. GERIN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 192142 

